Did You Know...

... that Canadian family team 4Astrophe turned out far from desaster?

Kalle Pohjola with Pro Team Extended

posted Apr 17th, 2013 -
The NSL News had introduced the amazing Pro Team Extended family from Finland, with father Kimmo, mother Outi and 12-year old Kally Pohjola during the coverage of the World Challenge 2013, and the story is yet far from over.

However, Kalle Pohjola has not been the youngest 4way competitor this year on the NSL leaderboard. The NSL News now introduces another 4way family with an 11-year old flyer in the lineup who competed in the A Class, Yannick Bisson from Canada.

Both 4way youngsters won their first competitions, Kalle Pohjola in the Rookie Class of the World Challenge 2013 and Yannick Bisson in the A Class of the Canadian Indoor Championship 2013. Father Richard Bisson, one of the Evolution founding members who retired in 2004, provided more information of his own 4way family affair.

Yannick and Valerie Bisson with 4Astrophe

Richard Bisson has two children, Valerie (16) and Yannick (11). They started with tunnel training in 2010 and have now accumulated more than 11 hours of flight time. Father Richard Bisson began his family project with 1-on-1 training for Valerie. Brother Yannick was still so light at that time that his father had to load him up with a lot of weight and wear a big jumpsuit to fly with him.

It did not work well, and Yannick also did not like the fast and loud wind that intimidated him somehow. Richard Bisson tried to train him standing up, and Yannick's interest began fading. Then the tunnel instructors suggested to start him in Freeflying, and eventually the whole Bisson family got into it. Father Richard in now a skilled head down flyer, Valerie has accomplished all Freeflying skills, and Yannick "does very nice sit to sit front flips", his father said.

Last fall it came to Richard Bisson's attention that Skyventure Montreal would be hosting the first Canadian Indoor Skydiving Championships. Yannick was now used to a higher air speed due to his Freeflying, and it was time to give 4way another try. Richard Bisson said that Yannick really enjoyed it this time, and he told his kids about the plan to compete at the Canadian Indoor Skydiving Championships.

First they were surprised but quickly became thrilled about the idea. However, there was not much time for indoor training. School, figure skating and ice hockey training, soccer practice, skiing - life is busy for young children... The Bisson family also lives an hour and a half away from SkyVenture Montreal, and it became obvious to father Richard that there would not be as much time for training as he was hoping for.

He started with preparations at home by dirtdiving the A Class dive pool with his kids and adding as much mental rehersal as possible. Richard, Valerie and Yannick Bisson still had another "minor" problem. They needed a 4th team member...

Richard Bisson discussed his plans last December with Jacinthe Labelle, a former member of 4way team Cat Women. She was very interested in the project and became excited about the oportunity. The new 4way team 4Astrophe was born and plans were made for two hours of indoor training in January.

1st place in the A Class

The number 4 in 4Astrophe translates to "Quatre" in French, and the team name stands for "Catastrophe". However, the team project turned out far from being a desaster. 4Astrophe won and posted a 21.0 average after eight rounds in the A Class.

Richard Bisson knew the potential of the team after the indoor training: "We came to the Nationals with very low training time and experience but I already knew that the potential was very high. So it was now just a matter of performing under pressure..."

He thought that being 11 and 16 years old and competing against adults from 20 to 50 might be intimidating. Yannik told him that he was very nervous just before the first round. However, he said that both kids stayed focused between the rounds and performed at the expected level. It was no surprise that the family team and the two youngsters quickly became the favorites of the crowd. Team 4Astrophe is now thinking about plans for the future...